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Appealing rituals that exalt Kamma wedding in India is a realm of culture and tradition, neither you nor I can deny that. And of all the holy customs, Telugu marriage tops the rank. This is because ‘A wedding’ is just not only a ceremony to unify a boy and girl in Telugu matrimony. It’s a promise of two endearing souls in heaven, hand-in-hand for a “Together forever” commitment and an exhilarating celebration of two families and well-wishers for a new beginning. So the occasion certainly deserves to be extremely grand and mind-blowing if I am not wrong. You can also take help of Telugu matrimony sites that help people to find desired Telugu brides and groom.

Snathakam Ceremony for the Groom

This is a popular rite called Snathakam which is done prior to the wedding day in the house of the groom. The groom is asked to wear a sacred silver thread on his body referring the termination of his bachelorhood and accepts the responsibility of taking over the welfare and well being of the family. He is no more a one man and there is a family whom he should take care of, to be more precise, he is a family man from now on. Some people refer the custom as “Upanayanam”.

The Kashi Yatra Custom

This custom is a part of all Telugu weddings. In Tamil marriages this custom s known as Kashi Yatra. This custom adds joy to the viewers as the groom is asked to pretend as if he gets adamant in leaving for Kashi (a pilgrimage) and he is no more interested in marriage or any other earthly happiness. To add more to the fun the bride’s brother acts like pleading his brother-in-law to change his decision and sign the marital agreement with his sister to spend all his life with her.

Haldi Ceremony or Nalagu Rite

The ritual generally takes place in all states and is refered to with different names in different states. In Tamil marriage it is known as Nalagu, whereas north Indians refer it as the Haldi ceremony. The turmeric is smeared on the body of the bride and groom which signifies the rite performed for the purification of the bride and groom.

Viragudi Mokkadam

After ending all the customs at home, the groom sets off to step into the marriage hall. Before that a sacred visit to the temple is mandatory. Isn’t it? But No! This is not as ordinary as before. A big day deserves everything big and special. So is the temple visit. And the groom should worship it for everything to go well in his life. A coconut with turmeric and kumkum on its head will be broken in front of the divine statue of God or goddess. And the holy tradition successfully ends with a puja.

The Bride Arrives

Here comes the magical moment the groom will be longing for. You read it right! I meant the arrival of the bride. The maternal uncle of the girl accompanies her to the Mandap to bring together the couples made in heaven. A curtain will be placed in the middle of the bride and groom, a priest repeating the sacred mantras. Then, the tie knotting ceremony will take place, followed by the wedding rounds. The awesome moment begins with the priest giving Thali (Mangalsutra) to the groom reciting slogans beside. The holy thread that binds the two lives into one is placed right at the center of the bride’s chest. This is to indicate that the bride takes all her marital responsibilities and the love for her new family in her heart. Then they take seven wedding vows around the holy fire and it is believed that the couple is united in front of Panchabhutaalu (earth, air, water, fire, and sky). The customs and traditions hence demonstrate how solemn and vital a Telugu matrimony traditions are.

Tamil Matrimony involves simple yet quintessential rituals that have been followed since time immemorial. It is an undeniable fact that traditions and cultures are of prime importance to Tamilians. Though many rituals in Traditional Tamil wedding within the Tamil community have changed a bit over the years, yet they are still being carried out with the same level of enthusiasm and devotion. Tamil marriages are also quite popular for their colorful functions and traditional rituals. The rituals carried out before the actual wedding is usually quite extensive and elaborate as compared to those carried out after. Here are some of the rituals that take place as a part of the Tamil marriage:

1. Pallikali Thalippu: In this ritual, 7 clay pots is embellished using Kumkum powder and Sandalwood paste. They are then incorporated with 9 varieties of grain, also called Nava dhanyam and curd. These rituals have been performed since ancient times and are mostly performed with great sanctity and belief.

2. Kalyanaponnu: This ritual involves giving a bath to the Tamil bride to be with pure turmeric mixed with other essential oils. This particular ritual is common in both bride and groom’s house. It is believed that after this ceremony, both bride and groom cannot leave their house and not see each other until the wedding ceremony is completed.

3. Naandi Shrardham: Before the wedding, both the families of the bride and groom seek the blessings of their ancestors and pray to the souls of their ancestors. They also invite around 10 or more Brahmins and the respective families serve them South Indian feast. The feast includes sweets, flowers, coconuts, fruits, pan Supari, traditional South Indian clothes etc.

4. Nichayathartham (Engagement): Mainly performed by the bride’s family in Tamil wedding, this ritual starts with a Ganesh Puja. After the Puja, the groom’s family hands over the clothes, jewelry, and gifts to the bride. On the other hand bride’s family gives the clothes and gifts to the groom. Then both bride and groom wear the dress given by each other family. This is followed by groom’s sister applying tilak and kumkum on the bride’s forehead whereas bride’s brother applying the same on the groom’s forehead. Later, bride and groom exchange engagement rings in the presence of their near and dear ones.

5. Wedding Ceremony: After the groom arrives, the bride’s mother washes the feet of the groom with the mix of water, Chandan, and kumkum. The bride then enters the mandap and they exchange the exquisite flower garlands as a part of the ritual, also known as Maalai Maatral followed by Oonjal, known as swing ceremony.

Thereafter is performed Kanyanadanam, when the bride’s father hands over daughter’s hand to the groom for the lifetime. The groom then applies sindoor on the bride’s head and ties a Mangalsutra also known as Thaali around her neck. After this, both bride and groom walk around the fire and take seven rounds around it and with this all the quintessential and amazing Tamil wedding rituals come to an end.

Tamilians are very much known for their simplicity and elegance. Even if you talk about their marriage rituals, you will feel that simplicity in their rituals as well. However, it is very important and the biggest event of once life, but still they keep it simple yet beautiful. Tamil marriages are not extravaganza like Punjabi weddings, yet they are lavish in their own ways. All Tamilians give a lot of priority to their rituals and traditions and pay more attention to conducting each and every ritual in its original form. Here, we are sharing the beautiful rituals of Tamilian wedding that takes place in Tamil Nadu.

Panda Kaal Muhurtham: All the wedding ceremonies begin in a Tamil bride and groom’s house with this special ritual, which is generally performed a day before the wedding. In this, both the families offer their prayers to God for a peaceful and uninterrupted wedding.

Sumangali Prarthanai: This term Sumangali refers to women who are blessed with happy and prosperous married life. In this ritual, a traditional pooja is conducted and prayers are offered to Sumangalis and the bride-to-be to seek their blessings for a prosperous and blissful married life. All the sumangalis are required to wear a traditional saree or Madisar as it is basic requirement for the pooja.

Pallikai Thellichal: In this ceremony, nine types of different grains along with curd are mixed and filled into seven earthen pots, which are nicely decorated with sandalwood. These pots are later immersed in the water to feed the fishes. This ritual includes feeding the fishes, it is considered very auspicious for the couple and for their future married life.

Nandi Sharardham: In this ritual, the Tamil bride and Tamil groom and their respective families pray to their ancestors. Both the families invite the Brahmins for the feast. They offer fruits, supari, coconut, paan, flowers, sweets and veshti angavastram (traditional clothes) and request Pundits to bless the couples for their prosperous married life.

Lagan Patrika: It is Tamil translation of wedding invitation. After the engagement ceremony, the wedding date is officially announced in front of the guests. The first wedding card is sent to temple and then distributed to other relatives, family members and friends.

Mangal Sanaanam: This ritual is performed on the dawn of the wedding day in the bride and groom’s house respectively. Haldi, Kumkum and some oil is applied on the bride and the groom before they take this holy bath to get ready for the marriage and perform other wedding rituals.

Gauri Pooja: Amongst all different rituals and Tamil wedding customs, this is one ritual which is performed by the Tamil bride on her wedding day. Once the bride is ready after taking the holy bath, she offers special prayers to Goddess Gauri who is considered a symbol of purity.

Pada Pooja: This is another important ritual before actual wedding ceremonies. In this ritual, the bride’s mother washes the feet of groom with water, chandan and kumkum. After completion of this ceremony, the bride is called in the mandap.

Tamil wedding is one of the most colorful and vibrant weddings. There customs and traditions are really vibrant and full of life. The wedding rituals last up to 3-5 days with a lot of traditions and pre-post wedding rituals. The best part of their wedding is that they are very creative about their dressing for wedding. The ladies are dressed in colorful silk sarees with flowers and gold jewelry, where as you can see males in dhoti and kurta. Here, we are sharing some important rituals of Tamil Brahmin wedding. The wedding rituals start with “Pandha Kall Muhurtham” and the rituals ends with “Gravapravesham”. Let’s take a close look at the wedding rituals of Tamil Brahmin wedding.

Pandh Kaal Muhurtham: This is the very first ritual of Tamilian wedding. All the elderly members of the family participate in rituals. They place a tall wooden stick outside the house and raise the banana trees covered with decorations to symbolically announce that there is a marriage happening in the house. This is one of the oldest rituals of Tamilian wedding and being followed by almost all the Tamil families. The elder people of the family bless the bride and groom of the house and seek the blessings from the God for hassle free wedding.

Vratham: Vratham is the fast that happens generally a day before the wedding. In this rituals, both the bride and groom’s families fast for prosperity of their children and their new married life. On this day, a clay pot filled with nine varieties of grains is kept aside. The married women of the family pour water in the pot and allow the grains to sprout for the day. This is a symbolic rituals, where the pot is considered as houses, grains as bride and groom and the sprouts indicates the prosperity in the family. The family members sing traditional folk songs during various rituals and rejoice. After a day or two the pot is immersed into the pond, where fishes can eat the grains.

Jaanavasam: Jaanavasam is nothing but a small ceremony, which is conducted just before the reception. The Tamil bride andgroom came in a gorgeously decorated car and they get down outside the marriage hall. Nowadays, to make it more glorious and fancy, the Tamil groom came on a horse of on a chariot. This ritual is performed to welcome the groom and perform aarthi. A display of fireworks is a part of the procession.

Nicchiyadhartham: It is a small pre-wedding important function where the Tamil bride offers prayers to the God in the presence of a priest. In this ritual, the groom’s family gifts the bride with everything she requires such as sarees, flowers, makeup essentials, etc. Some families like to showcase most of the items in the gift collection. It is a kind of welcoming gesture from the groom’s house to the bride.

Receiving the groom: However, the family of the bride has already welcomed the groom on previous day itself, but this is another round of welcoming that will happened on the day of the wedding. The bride’s family welcomes groom’s family with a wide variety of plates like nuts, fruits, flowers, sweets and clothes. The bride’s brother applies the Tilak on the groom’s forehead similar to the North-Indian wedding Tilak ceremony.

Kashi Yatra: On the wedding day morning, the bride and the groom takes a holi bath and get ready for the day. The tradition says that the groom has to pretend like he is leaving to Kashi to become sanyasi. But, the bride’s father and family holds his hand and tries to convince him not to go for sanyas and do the marriage. After this, the groom heads to the marriage hall where the bride’s family welcomes him.

Oonjal: In this tradition, the bride and the groom are asked to sit on a wooden plank swing, where ladies of the house sing traditional folk songs and celebrated the holiness of the marriage. This is where the bride and groom are offered a banana dipped in the milk. The tradition is basically to ease their tension of marriage and make them comfortable.

Kanyadan: In this ritual, both bride and groom go into the mandap together to start the wedding. The father of the bride washes the feet of the groom. The mother of the bride applies kajal in the groom’s eye as ritual. During the wedding muhurtham, the hand of the bride is held by the father and given to the groom. After the ritual, the bride is handed over a nine year saree as gift from groom’s family. She is supposed to change into the nine yard-Madisaaru. Once she is back in that new saree, bride and groom holds the hand. The groom ties the knot three times while the bride folds her hand.

Tamil people are mostly educated and highly respective for good social behavior. The community belongs to Tamil are part of the south India states in India. The people in state of Tamil Nadu are referred as the Tamils. The culture, traditions of Tamil people are very popular among the southern states of India. The people of India are also very careful to ensure the relation among the various people from all the states. This will be positive impact on the cultural exchange among the people of India through the music, song, traditions and education system.

The Tamil marriages are more famous among the south Indian family to establish the love relation between the husband and wife. There are some steps of Hindu traditions which are followed by the Tamil community or Tamil speaking people’s wedding.

Pre Marriage Rituals

These rituals started with prayer to God by the both families of bride and groom. Then, the bride family welcomes the groom with Aarti on the previous day of wedding. The groom eats sweets, the Pandit sprinkling water on the head and braking of coconut for holiness. After this ‘Vratham’ puja is arranged before wedding. Naandi is ceremony for the Tamil Brahmins where the groom offered gifts and sweets for wedding tip. The official engagement is called ‘Nicchiyadharatham’ when both the groom and the bride exchange wedding rings. Then after, formal announcement of marriage is organized to inform the relatives and friends about the wedding alliance.

Marriage Rituals Ceremony

On the marriage day the ‘Mangala Snaanam’ arranged when the groom and bride take bath for purification. And make sure they applied oil and haldi on their body before the bath. Then the groom goes towards the marriage Mandap to meets his bride. Here bride and the groom exchange the garlands with each other. Next is ‘Kanyadaanam’ wherein the bride’s father gives his daughter’s hand to the groom. Then the ‘Muhurtum’ ceremony when the groom puts Vermillion on the forehead ties Mangalsutra on the neck of his bride. Finally they take seven rounds ‘Saath Phere’ and seven vows around the Saptapadi (sacred fire).

Post Marriage Rituals

After the marriag function, the families of bride and groom exchange gift which is known as ‘Sammandhi Mariyathai’. Now the bride leaves for her marital home to go with husband’s house. The married bride is most welcomed by her mother-in-law with the traditional Aarti in the presence of her new family members. The ceremony is known as ‘Grihapravesham’. Reception party is now organized at the groom’s house for relatives and guests to meet the newly married couple to give blessings. You can check Indian matrimonial sites for Tamil groom and brides for wedding.